Randy Thomas (musician)

Randy Thomas (born November 15, 1954 in Denison, Texas) is an American Christian musician best known for co-writing "Butterfly Kisses (song)." and being a member of the Sweet Comfort Band and Allies.

Having performed with Scott and Carlisle in Psalm 150, Randy joined Sweet Comfort band in 1975."Sweet Comfort" was the band's debut recording for Maranatha!Music in 1976. Switching to Light Records, Sweet Comfort Band produced five more records, the last ironically titled Perfect Timing. A best-of compilation entitled Prime Time followed.

In 1984 Randy formed the band ALLIES with Sam Scott and Bob Carlisle. They spent nine years between 1984-1993 doing concerts and recording six albums. The band's debut was self-titled. The most successful Allies recording was "Long way from Paradise" with two #1 singles: "Devil Is A Liar" and "Take Me Back." During this period, Randy and Bob Carlisle became a well-known songwriting team. The first country song they penned was the 1989 Dolly Parton number one hit song "Why'd You Come In Here Lookin' Like That?"

PolyGram Music (now Universal Music)signed Randy Thomas as a staff writer in 1995.Randy wrote material for artists such as Bob Carlisle, Sir Cliff Richard, Raybon Brothers, and Jeff Carson as well as for Dolly Parton, Hank Williams Jr., Highway 101, Colin Raye, Ty England, Lila McCann, and Engelbert Humperdinck.

Former ALLIES drummer Brian Fullen introduced Randy to Robert John "Mutt" Lange and his wife, Shania Twain. Lange and Twain hired Randy as a guitarist / vocalist for live international performances to debut the Mercury Records release "The Woman In Me." Randy performed all of the "Woman In Me" performances throughout 1995 and 1996. Thomas also played with Canadian artistPaul Brandt, and later SHeDAISY.

He shared the 1997 Grammy Award for Best Country Song with Bob Carlisle for writing the song "Butterfly Kisses (song)." Butterfly Kisses sold over three million units and was awarded a Platinum Single Award.

Randy was producer / co-writer / co-artist on Identical Strangers (Damascus Road Records) with Andy Denton in 1996. Identical Strangers was a critically acclaimed CD yeilding two top-5 singles. After the release of Butterfly Kisses (song) Thomas retired in 1997, coming out of retirement in 2007.

His various awards include: Grammy, Dove, ASCAP, NSAI, and Nashville Music awards. Randy and his wife, Lori currently reside in Fort Myers, FL. They have three children, Crystal, Randall, and Sarah.

References

http://www.sweetcomfort.com/randybio.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruscha

http://www.wrightmedia.us/production/gracesongs/randy.htm